What's happening?
by 10oclock
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke are in high school, and they're friends. Though, they might want to be more than that. Who will be able to take that step and confront the other? Go ahead and find out...rated M for possible later chapters.


What?

_**I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. I am just writing about them.**_

**BAM! **

All of Naruto's books toppled onto the floor thanks to the snobby bleach blonde boy who just rammed his shoulder into him…on purpose.

"Well that royally sucked," Naruto thought as he bent to pick up all his books and not be trampled by the impatient wave of teenagers, "What does that kid have against me anyway?" The answer was right behind him, even though he didn't know it yet.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked as he bent down to help Naruto pick up all his scattered school stuff.

"Oh, just that asshole who has his locker by ours being a dick as usual," said Naruto, glad to tell someone about what had happened, "I swear if he does anything again today I'm going to blow up at him."

"Don't do that…ok Naruto? It's not worth it. Luke is just a jerk."

"Yeah Sasuke, I know I know. Don't worry, he probably won't try to push it anymore today, he's kind of a coward if you haven't noticed," Naruto glared down at his books and stood up, did Sasuke think he couldn't defend himself? Seriously just because he wasn't as good at fighting as Sasuke didn't mean that he couldn't take on Luke, if it even came to that. He sighed inwardly…who was he really angry with? Luke, the guy who ran into him, the blonde jerk; why were the evil people always blonde? It made him sad to be. "Maybe I'll dye my hair someday…or not," he thought.

As they started walking again Naruto noticed that Sasuke was being unusually quiet. "Usually you talk a little more than this Sasuke...not to say it's annoying when you do, it's kind of nice. The reason why I usually talk so much is because no one else ever seems to want to-- Hey! Don't roll your eyes at me, I was just wondering…sheesh," sometimes he could be so frustrating. Naruto wished he could know what Sasuke was thinking more of the—

"Naruto," Sasuke said, interrupting Naruto's thought process, "I gotta go to class and it's the other way. Wait for me by the locker after class and don't do anything stupid if that jerk does something. He's not worth it."

As Sasuke walked away Naruto thought about what he'd said, and immediately forgot it as his mind wandered to other things.

The morning classes dragged by slowly as usual, the one high point was when Naruto saw Sasuke walk past the window in the door with a few of his other friends and he got to wave and yell "Hi guys!" in the middle of a particularly boring lecture given by a particularly nasty teacher. It earned him a few resentful looks from the studious kids...but those were nothing compared to the resentful looks he received from Sakura and Ino when Sasuke smiled and waved at Naruto in return. It wasn't Naruto's fault they were friends now was it? Just because Sasuke preferred friends who didn't dote over his incredible talents and good looks constantly like some love sick schoolgirl…

The bell rang soon after that and Naruto got up with relief. As he made his way through the hallway and approached his locker he noticed an unwelcome sight. The jerk from this morning was at his locker too…which just happened to be the one right next to Naruto's and Sasuke's. "Great, thought Naruto..this is going to be just great..if he does anything, man will I give it to him." Just then though, Sasuke's words from this morning popped into Naruto's head: "Don't do anything stupid. He's not worth it." The fragmented comments floated there for a moment and Naruto sighed…"Fine," he thought, "I won't do anything."

There was no need to at first. Naruto got to the locker and put in the combination and opened it up. There was no reaction from the tall skinny blonde jerk next to him, or the jerk's smaller stockier brown-haired locker partner. Everything was going smoothly, no provocation. Then Naruto saw Sasuke walking toward him, and the locker. The jerks next to Naruto moved so that they were between Sasuke and the locker, just enough so that Sasuke had to push past them. As he walked past them Naruto saw Sasuke's face turn white, and then red with embarrassment and saw his body stiffen with surprise and resentment.

The two jerks laughed to each other.

Naruto was pissed, and this seemed like proper provocation, but he'd better make sure…for Sasuke's sake…he guessed…or he could just pound them into the ground—

"Naruto," said Sasuke, as if reading his mind.

"Yeah?" Naruto asked while glaring at the two jerks out of the corner of his eyes so Sasuke wouldn't notice.

"Don't do it."

Naruto starred at Sasuke, awed by his perception. "He knows me too well…sheesh," Naruto thought. Then to Sasuke he said, "What did they say to you that made you look so embarrassed?"

"It was nothing…compared to what could have happened…it was nothing," said Sasuke.

"Nothing? Well then why did you…wait what do you mean what could have happened?" asked Naruto slightly horrified at the possibilities.

"Don't be alarmed, I just meant in the grand scheme of things does it really matter?" said Sasuke, avoiding the question.

"Yeah it does, we can't just let them be jerks forever…please tell me what they said Sasuke."

"You just want an excuse to yell at them," said Sasuke quietly.

"Well yeah, but I also want to know why it bothered you so much and if I can help. I am your friend you know."

"Yeah I know..." Sasuke trailed off, "Ok..fine..but don't get yourself in trouble…behave…"

"Hey!" Just then the blonde jerk called over. "What's wrong Naruto, ya look all upset, why don'tcha go comfort your boyfriend in private!" Ahahah! The two boys laughed hysterically at their joke.

"That is it!" Naruto marched over to where the two boys were standing a few feet away so he was nearly nose to nose with the blonde jerk. "You need to learn some manners! How can you be such a jerk and not feel bad about it? How can you push people around and call people names and still go around like you're some great important person? When you're the exact opposite..the lowest of the low. You get your high from pushing other people down..you can't get much lower than that. You're just a loser buddy. You gonna live your whole life like this? Pushin' people around to get your way and impress your little henchmen?" The brown-haired stocky kid stiffened with anger. "Well? What're ya gonna do boy? Stand there lookin' like an asshole? All your "clever" comments aren't so readily available now when someone actually confronts you? Well isn't that nice." As Naruto walked away he heard a whistling in the air and turned around to see a fist traveling straight for his head. He reacted smoothly and reached up to block and counter, but before he could get anywhere he was pushed out of the way and Sasuke caught the jerks fist in his own hand easily.

"Please leave us alone," Sasuke commanded calmly, "we want no trouble, and believe me, neither do you."

The threat was so apparent in his words that Naruto could only stare open mouthed for a minute. Sasuke had never threatened anyone quite that blatantly before, and the smoldering anger behind his eyes, masked by the calm look on the rest of his features, was absolutely terrifying.

"Naturo, I told you not to do anything stupid," Sasuke stated blankly, still holding the guy in place by his fist, "and here you go and do something incredibly stupid that could have gotten you in serious trouble."

"He's disappointed in me…I was just trying to teach those guys a lesson," Naruto thought.

"I'm sorry Sasuke," he said out loud, "I knew it was a dumb thing to do, but I guess I just got caught up in the moment."

As they spoke rather calmly to each other, the blonde jerk freed his fist from Sasuke's grip and both he and his brown haired henchman scurried away in fear, looking over their shoulders to make sure they weren't being pursued.

"Naruto, about what they said--," Sasuke began.

"No, Sasuke, I have to explain. I really didn't mean to do it, but when you looked so embarrassed about whatever it was they said to you, and then they called you my boyfriend…it was just so idiotic and mean that I couldn't let them get away with it," Naruto explained heatedly.

"Oh, yeah I know, I guess that really bothered you then, huh? You just need to learn to let it roll off. Don't take it so personally. Even if it is weird and gross to think of me as your boyfriend…yeah…really weird…how could they even say something like that…weird…" Sasuke rambled.

"Umm, Sasuke?" Naruto wondered, "Are you ok, you're not making a lot of sense."

"What? Yeah yeah, I'm fine...just fine. I have to get to class. See ya Naruto!"

"But..hey! Sasuke what did they say to you? You were about to tell me! Also it's lunch time, so you don't have to get to class!" Naruto was worried about his friend. Why was he having a minor break down now, after acting so calm and cool during the encounter with the guys from before?

"I just need to be alone for a little while, ok?" Sasuke snapped.

"Ok, fine…talk to you later then I guess," Naruto said unhappily. He still wanted to talk, and by the sound of it Sasuke needed to, but most likely wouldn't, especially if Naruto pried too much. It was best to just let him go think things through by himself until he was ready to talk.

"That Naruto," Sasuke thought, "He's always so reckless and over confident, someday he's going to get hurt if I'm not around to protect him. Man would he be mad if I ever told him that though. He thinks he's absolutely invincible. It is sort of nice that he stood up for me though. Even if it was misguided, it was nice…not to mention he looked pretty good when he was going in for that block before I pushed him out of the way…maybe he would be able to take care of himself. Hang on. Back track. What did I just think? He "looked pretty good"?? What's that supposed to mean…and why did I get so mad when Naruto said he was mad that that guy said he was my boyfriend? I'm not stupid, and this all seems to be leading somewhere where I don't want it to lead. Ok..let's think about something else. I'll review my forms. Low block, punch, don't forget to block your head with your other hand….." As his thoughts drifted off to another subject, his somewhat unnerving revelations drifted to the back of his mind.

"Ah, lunch," Naruto thought, "This will help me figure things out…I can never think very clearly if I go without food for too long…but I think the best when I have…ramen! And it's for lunch today! Score." As Naruto hurried into line he was confronted by some of his other friends and started talking to them.

Sasuke wandered into the cafeteria a few minutes later just as Naruto was getting his lunch and sitting down with some friends of theirs. "Good," he thought, "This way Naruto will be distracted and won't be able to ask me about why I stormed off." So, reassured, Sasuke went and got some food ("Ramen, heh, Naruto's favorite," he chuckled to himself.) and sat down with Naruto and their friends. As he ate, he drifted off into a daydream about who knows what, until he was interrupted all of a sudden by Naruto saying his name.

It came at him as if someone was turning up the volume on a TV…louder and louder until he actually heard what was being said.

"So yeah, I was going to go ahead and hit this guy right back, but then Sasuke jumps in there and shoves me out of the way, and he says all cool like: "Leave us alone. We don't want any trouble and neither do you!" How awesome is that??" exclaimed Naruto. "Isn't that right Sasuke? Sasuke??"

"Huh? Oh yeah…well I couldn't let you get yourself hurt…" said Sasuke quietly. "I couldn't let him get hurt," he thought to himself.

"Aww, Sasuke you know I'd be fine," Naruto groaned exasperatedly.

As Naruto pouted over Sasuke's lack of confidence in his fighting skills, Sasuke was getting lost in thought again, but this time he knew exactly what it was about.

"Naruto," Sasuke thought, revelations from before resurfacing, "It really would've bothered me if you'd gotten hurt. I had to stop that guy…if he had punched you…oh he's lucky I had the restraint to not hurt him. Lucky I have some self control and I don't just let my emotions run away without thought… Naruto…you really mean a lot to me. You always have but this is different for some reason…wait why am I thinking this to myself? Why don't I just talk to him about it, but not around everybody else…that would be really awkward. Imagining it, "So Naruto I think my feelings for you are developing into something stronger and more like love...so yeah…you have anything to say back to me?" Yeah he would completely lose his reputation of calm, cool, and dangerous. He needed that to maintain any measure of peace in his life. Except when he was around Naruto, then he could relax and let all the cold walls down…it was something he never had with anyone else, and would probably never have again if he ever lost Naruto, it was a level of trust that couldn't be replicated…oh well. Snap out of it Sasuke! Just go talk to him! "Fine," he thought, "here it goes."

"Naruto? Could I get you to help me get something from the locker? I think it was jammed after I slammed it as I was jumping to your rescue earlier," Sasuke grinned teasingly, trying desperately to cover up any traces of nerves.

Naruto glared and said, "Why can't you just get it yourself since you're so strong? How could I possibly help you?"

"Wow, when he glares he looks really grown up…I never noticed how blue his eyes were," Sasuke thought, eyes widening. "I just need to talk to him and get this over with and make sure he doesn't have any of the same feelings as me so that I can forget about this."

"Please help me…oh mighty Naruto?" Sasuke added cheesily.

After rolling his eyes, "Fine, since you've appealed to my pride," Naruto agreed, and then added in his head, "I wonder what he really wants. It must be to talk about what he went off to think about before. Well good, about time really, I've been waiting all lunch period for this."

Sasuke and Naruto got up from the table and exited the lunch room. They were a sight to see; both tall, one dark haired and serious, the other blonde and with a cheerful air about him and a grin on his face.

As they rounded the corner that led to their locker, Naruto asked, "So, what's the real reason you brought me along Sasuke?"

"Well it's hard to explain, but I think I can do it without being a complete idiot...so yeah…here it goes—," Sasuke began.

Just as he was about to try to explain these new feelings a girl who was about a year younger than them walked up to Naruto and said, "Won't you be my boyfriend Naruto? I've liked you for awhile and I think you're pretty great."

"Well," thought Sasuke, "she definitely gets to the point faster than I do."

Naruto looked surprised as hell, but he was able to cobble together a response, "There's actually someone that I like right now, but I don't think they feel the same way about me. Even so, I couldn't in good conscience go out with you knowing that I like someone else. It wouldn't be fair to you, because I couldn't treat you the way you should be treated. I'm sorry. I really am."

"Oh, that's ok, good luck with whoever you like. I can't see how they couldn't like you," replied the girl rather sadly. "Oh by the way, thank you for not being a total jerk about denying me."

"Thanks, and no problem…why would I be a jerk anyway?" asked Naruto.

"Oh, no reason, just that that guy who has his locker near yours, he's blonde too, kinda tall and skinny, well I asked him out last year and he made me feel like a complete ass for even considering him. Apparently he's gay or something. How was I supposed to know him and that brown haired kid had it goin' on? They don't really publicize it. In fact I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, but he was such a jerk about telling me in the first place that it probably serves him right," replied the girl.

Sasuke's eyebrows raised a considerable amount at those words and Naruto's mouth dropped open in an expression of disbelief.

"Thanks for telling me then…," said Naruto.

"Yeah, thanks again for not being mean. Bye!" and with that, the girl left.

Naruto turned to Sasuke, "Can you believe it?! That guy's a fairy! No wonder he's so bitter towards you! What happened? Did you turn him down and he's had it out for you ever since? I mean it's obvious you're straight-"

Sasuke cringed a little in apprehension at that.

"-and that you're really smart and gorgeous-"

Sasuke's cringe subsided a little.

"-I mean really, he must've been heart broken when you said no…heh. Tell me Sasuke is that really what happened?" Naruto asked in an amused tone. He obviously wasn't expecting a serious answer back.

"Naruto you can be surprisingly astute without meaning to be," Sasuke said.

The look of amusement started to slide off Naruto's face.

"Actually, last year that guy did ask me out…it was awkward and I always assumed he was just joking around to find out if I was gay," mused Sasuke, "but I guess he meant what he said."

The look of astonishment on Naruto's face was priceless, "Woah…but you said no of course. Sasuke be gay, right. That wouldn't make any sense," Naruto stuttered half to himself.

"While it is implausible, you can't really rule it out, after all I'm still young and some people don't figure it out until they're older. Also, I think you're missing a bigger reason to not go out with that guy. He's a jerk, a complete and utter ass. So yeah, lots of good reasons to avoid him," explained Sasuke.

"Yeah, I suppose, other than the fact that he's a man…haha…" Naruto replied weakly.

"Right," agreed Sasuke firmly.

"So what were we talking about before that girl came up here?" asked Naruto, but before Sasuke could answer he said, "Oh yeah! We were going to talk about the locker incident from this morning. What did that guy say to you anyway?"

By this time Sasuke's courage was waning, and Naruto's constant reassurances to himself that "Sasuke couldn't be gay, it wouldn't make sense", didn't help him at all in his endeavor to figure out his weird recent reaction to Naruto. He just couldn't bring himself to say what that guy had said to him. "Naruto, I can't talk about it right now."

"Why not? You know I'll listen, and I won't judge you. I've been your friend for forever," Naruto reassured.

Just then the bell signaling the end of lunch rang.

"Saved by the bell," Sasuke thought sarcastically. "I can't tell you because we don't have enough time right now, sorry Naruto I'll tell ya later," said Sasuke.

As Sasuke walked off Naruto couldn't help being a little suspicious of his friend's behavior. "Why does he seem to be avoiding talking about what that guy said? Also, I didn't know how many gay people were actually in this school. I guess I never gave it much thought. I bet Sasuke knows way more about it than I do, he's so cool that he must get asked out all the time. _I'd never stand a chance against all the other people in the school_… Hang on, what? Geez…I need to get a girlfriend, why didn't I say yes to that girl? It really isn't that true that I like someone, I just feel like I'm already devoting my emotions to someone else…_Sasuke_…quiet you silly subconscious...even if you are right. I need a girlfriend," as Naruto thought this he nearly ran into a wall he was so distracted.

Sasuke was sitting in his last class, and not paying attention. He didn't really realize he wasn't, he was so focused on what he was thinking about. "Naruto," he thought, "I need to talk to Naruto. Right away after class I'll talk to him. This has gone on long enough."

He looked up at the clock. There were still twenty-five minutes left. "Why?" he thought, "I just worked up the courage…don't let it fail me now."

The rest of the class actually went by quickly since Sasuke was dreading confronting Naruto. He hoped he wouldn't ask anything about what they had talked about before, so he could avoid the topic and not feel too guilty about being a coward later.

"Hey, Sasuke! About before, I have something I want to ask you," said Naruto as Sasuke approached the locker to grab his stuff before he went home.

"Yeah? I guess I have something to ask you too," Sasuke groaned inwardly, "Why, why did Naruto have to bring it up now. He thought he could have at least had a night to try to suppress things."

"Oh, well you can go first if you want, maybe it's about the same thing."

"No, I don't think it will be, you go first Naruto."

"Alright, well," Naruto took a big breath, "I've been thinking a lot about relationships lately, I know, weird right, but I've decided that I want to be in a relationship right now."

"Oh," Sasuke said. His mind began to race, "He couldn't mean…what I think he means, but maybe."

"Well I'm not sure if the person will accept me or not, considering the weird situation," Naruto continued.

"No way," thought Sasuke, "no freakin' way." "Well I'm sure they will Naruto," he said out loud.

"So do you think I should just go ahead and ask? Or should I not risk it?" asked Naruto.

"I say go for it," said Sasuke rather too happily. "It would make everything easier if Naruto asked me first," thought Sasuke.

"Alright then," said Naruto triumphantly, "I'm going to go ask that girl out who asked me out before…I hope she says yes even though I turned her down before. I wasn't thinking properly, was I?"

Sasuke's face must have been whiter than usual as he said, "Umm, yeah, I think she'll say yes." He was sure she would, the happiness was flowing out of him faster than he could keep track of.

"Ok, I'll email and tell you how it goes. See ya! And thanks for the encouragement!" yelled Naruto as he walked away to ask some random chick out.

Sasuke couldn't believe the events that had just taken place. He had been so sure Naruto had meant him.

"Well what now? I can't tell him how I feel now, because he's going to go ask out some girl, and if he's asking out a girl that means he would never want to be with me. Since I'm a dude. Life sucks. I'm going home," Sasuke thought angrily as he slammed the locker closed, "maybe she won't say yes! Oh that's a horrible thing to think Sasuke, you want your friend to be happy right?" he counseled himself, "Yes, I do, but even if she did say no, he still wouldn't want me. Screwed no matter what, yay," he thought bitterly as he pulled out his keys and walked off campus.

Sasuke got home, took off his shoes, threw his keys and backpack onto the floor of his room and then wandered over to the computer. Since all of his homework was done, because he had had a study hall earlier in the day he decided he'd just hang out until Naruto came online and started talking about what had happened with the girl…Sheena…he thought her name was. Turns out he had a bit of a wait, so he went and got some food, ("I'll get a bagel with sour cream, yay."), and then came back to the computer. He checked all his other email and went on youtube and facebook. Then finally about an hour later a message popped up for him from Naruto.

_Hey Sasuke._

_Hey Naruto, what's up? How'd everything go?_

_Oh, it went ok. ._

_Ok?_

_Well yeah, actually Sheena is here with me now! She said yes! Also she says "hi" to you._

_*facedesk*_

_Facedesk? Why did you figuratively slam your face into your desk, are you upset that I have a girlfriend?_

_What? No no, so you have a girlfriend! Well that's good then…so..umm..shouldn't you be spending time with her and not on the computer talking to me? :P_

_Well yeah, but I just wanted to tell you. Get the best friend's blessing…you know._

_Ah, well you have it. :P Congratulations. Talk to you later!_

_Yeah, thanks, bye._

Sasuke felt pretty bad even though he tried not to show it to Naruto, and he didn't know what else to do so he laid down on his bed and eventually fell asleep and just slept right through to the next morning.

When he woke, the sun wasn't up, but it was almost time for him to leave, so he rolled out of bed, threw on some clean clothes and walked out in a stupor to his car. He drove as if hypnotized; checking everything out of habit, and fortunately encountering nothing out of the ordinary.

Once at school, he realized that he did indeed have to go to his locker and face Naruto. Not to mention try to seem happy that Naruto had a girlfriend now. "This is going to suck," he thought, but as he approached the locker he realized that Naruto didn't look too happy either. Before Sasuke made it down the hallway though, Sheena appeared and her and Naruto walked off in the other direction without even noticing Sasuke.

"Oh, well," he thought, "At least now I don't have to worry about putting on a fake happy face."

"Hey! Gay-rod! I see your boyfriend has a girlfriend, you just gonna sit back and let that happen?" called the last person Sasuke wanted to talk to.

"Luke, listen, you asked me out once a long time ago, I turned you down. Get over it, and leave me alone. If you carry on, I guarantee you'll regret it. Today is not the day to bother me," Sasuke replied somewhat calmly.

As Luke's brown haired henchman looked skeptically from Sasuke and back to Luke, Sasuke realized that he must not have known that Luke asked Sasuke out a while ago.

"Well," thought Sasuke, as next to him Luke was spluttering with an explanation for the disgruntled brown haired boy, "what goes around comes around."

All day as Sasuke walked from class to class, he always seemed to pass Naruto and Sheena with their heads together deep in conversation. It wasn't exactly giving off the aura of a boyfriend and girlfriend relationship, but maybe that's just how they were. At least Naruto didn't look so sad anymore. At lunch Naruto was sitting with Sheena at a different table, and they were deep in conversation so Sasuke decided that he would leave them alone. Then after school as Sasuke was getting ready to leave, Naruto showed up to get his stuff from the locker too. He was acting strangely.

"Hey Sasuke," Naruto said quietly, which was strange for him, "What're you doing today after school?"

"Not much…why?" Sasuke inquired suspiciously, he was sensing an invitation to some type of social event, and he was just not in the mood right now.

"Well I was wondering if you wanted to come over…" Naruto said, again quietly.

"Umm…I'm not really up for hanging out with people right now, and shouldn't you be spending time with Sheena tonight?" Sasuke said truthfully.

"Well, she would be there too," Naruto said.

"Ah, I see, well then I really don't want to be the third wheel, ok? So I'm just going to pass," Sasuke added getting a little ticked off now. Why would Naruto think he would want to hang out with him and Sheena while they acted all gooey over each other?

"There's something I have to explain to you Sasuke, and it involves all three of us…sort of. Most importantly though, I'm not going out with her. So you won't be the third wheel," Naruto stated blatantly.

"Oh, but all day you've been talking--" began Sasuke.

"Yeah, we have," interrupted Naruto, "and we've been talking about you. Or about how I feel about you, and how she thinks you might feel about me, and judging by your snippy reaction right now I think she might be right."

"What the hell are you talking about?! What are you implying? Are you just going to believe whatever she says? How do you know she isn't working for that Luke kid or something, and just trying to get us fighting or…something. How can you trust what she says??" accused Sasuke.

"I can't. That's why I'm asking you what your feelings are, and I'd prefer not to do that in the middle of school with tons of other people around, so are you coming over now or what?" asked Naruto, the calm one of the two for once.

"Fine," Sasuke agreed reluctantly.

"Alright," thought Naruto, "I finally have him here, now how am I going to explain this?" Sheena and Naruto had been going over how to talk to Sasuke all day long about what they thought he was feeling. Naruto hadn't thought they would actually be able to confront Sasuke about it so soon. Better sooner than later, Sheena had said. This was definitely sooner.

"So, Sasuke…how're you?" queried Naruto awkwardly.

Sasuke starred with a look of disbelief on his face, "Is this why you brought me here? Really? To ask me how I'm doing?"

"Well no…" Naruto started shyly.

As Naruto continued to mumble and Sasuke just kept starring at him expectantly Sheena realized that they wouldn't be getting anywhere fast if they were allowed to continue like this without intervention from an outside force. "Therefore," Sheena thought, "I must intervene."

"Naruto, sorry to interrupt, but neither of you are getting anywhere right now," Sheena stated rather aggressively. "Sasuke, were you jealous when you thought I was Naruto's girlfriend?"

Sasuke looked taken aback. "Well, I guess…I'm his friend and he was spending a lot of time with you…and he decided to date you so suddenly, but I know you're not actually dating I was just overreacting it's really not important is it?" Sasuke rambled without much pause.

"So, Sasuke," Naruto began timidly, "do you think that there may have been a different reason for you being jealous besides that you're my friend?" He expectantly waited.

"Umm…" began Sasuke lamely.

"Do you like him, Sasuke?" Sheena wasn't a very patient person.

"Sure, as a friend I mean, but uhh…hey Sheena could I talk to him alone?" Her expectant gaze was unnerving Sasuke.

Sheena got to her feet and walked out of the room, but not before she mumbled something to Naruto about self confidence and Sasuke thought he caught something about "not letting him talk himself out of it if it's what he wanted"…whatever that meant.

There was silence for a few moments after Sheena left when the two just stood and pretended to be very interested in the floor or the walls.

Sasuke finally broke the silence, "Naruto, now that we're alone, unless she's listening at the door…"

They heard a rustling from outside, and the patter of footsteps.

"She's just…trying to make sure I do what I want," defended Naruto.

"Well anyway," said Sasuke, "I want to tell you that I think I li—hang on…what exactly is it that you want…that she's trying to make sure you do."

"It's complicated," avoided Naruto.

"Probably not as complicated as what I'm trying to say," countered Sasuke.

"Please, just say it then."

"Ok, what I wanted to say was…that…I…I'm really mad at that guy from before who said that we were boyfriends…remember that? That made you mad too… Well remember you wanted to know what it was he said to me that embarrassed me so much? Well he said, 'I bet he's the pitcher.' By he, he meant you," confessed Sasuke, looking even more awkward by the second.

"Oh, well that isn't so bad," said Naruto, "It could have been worse."

His drama free response made Sasuke question if he was really talking to Naruto, so he stated, "Well that was very calm of you."

"Yeah," said Naruto, "I'm just saying…that kind of thing doesn't really bother me."

"But before you freaked when Luke called me your boyfriend."

"Well 'boyfriend' means more than 'pitcher'…that just saying someone's the pitcher…that doesn't even really imply a relationship, anyone can go screw someone else. I don't get riled up over stuff that doesn't bother me."

"So why does it rile you to hear me called your boyfriend, but it doesn't to hear you called the pitcher?" asked Sasuke.

"Because I haven't been thinking about being 'the pitcher' or 'the catcher' for that matter…" said Naruto offhandedly.

"But…you've been thinking about me being your boyfriend?" said Sasuke in disbelief.

"Well…yeah…yeah I have," said Naruto, "if that bothers you I'm sorry, I can't help it. I've tried to stop thinking about it and it's bugging me, but yeah…there it is…do what you want…I'll leave you completely alone if it weirds you out, or you think it's funny…you can call me names or whatever…but I can't help it," blurted Naruto. He looked at Sasuke to judge his reaction even though he was pretty much expecting rejection.

Sasuke was still for a long time looking at the floor. When he looked up he looked different. Bolder. "Are you offering something, Naruto?" he asked.

"Offering?" asked Naruto, confused.

"Yeah, is there something you want to ask me? I can guarantee that if you ask the right question you'll get the right answer," Sasuke looked to be enjoying himself now.

Naruto was confused, "Uh, do you want me to be thinking about pitching instead of you being my boyfriend? Or do you think I'm a total fag and you're making fun of me or something? Seriously help me out here…what are you getting at?"

Sasuke still looked amused, apparently he was enjoying this moment a lot more than Naruto in his confused state was. He crossed the room and stood about a foot in front of Naruto with his arms crossed. "If there was one question that you wanted the answer to Naruto, right now, at this moment, what would it be? Once you have it, go ahead and ask it."

Naruto thought while starring intently at Sasuke, trying to figure out his angle. "Do you like me Sasuke?"

"Yes I do, Naruto," Sasuke grinned.

"Do you want to be my boyfriend Sasuke?" asked Naruto, starting to grin too.

"Yes, I do, but under one condition," stipulated Sasuke.

"What's that?" said Naruto warily.

"I get to be the pitcher," Sasuke whispered in Naruto's ear.

Naruto laughed, but Sasuke said, "I'm serious…but we won't have to worry about that for awhile."

Naruto looked wary, "So what do you want to do now? After we inform Sheena of the outcome, I'm sure she'll be most pleased of course."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at this mention of Sheena, "Let's go to a movie or something…and can it just be us?"

"Sure, I'll go tell Sheen what's up."

"Sheen?" Sasuke asked in disgust, he was still jealous of her.

"Yeah, it's just a nickname…don't go getting all overprotective and jealous right away now," said Naruto teasingly.

"Fine, fine," grumbled Sasuke.


End file.
